May 22, 2007

From Big East.org

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The 2007 BIG EAST Baseball award winners and all-conference teams were announced at the league's annual championship banquet held Monday night at the Crown Plaza LaGuardia in New York, N.Y. Rutgers' junior shortstop Todd Frazier headlined a group of three players recognized by the league's head coaches. Frazier was named the BIG EAST Player of the Year, unanimously. The Louisville Cardinals were well represented as junior right-hander Zack Pitts and freshman left-hander Justin Marks were tabbed Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, respectively. St. John's head coach Ed Blankmeyer was selected as the BIG EAST Coach of the Year.

Frazier is just the second player from Rutgers to earn BIG EAST Player of the Year honors and the first since Darren Fenster received the award in 2000. A Toms River, N.J. native, he was the only player voted as a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team in addition to being selected as the Player of the Year, unanimously. Prior to the `07 season, Frazier was named Preseason Player of the Year by the league's head coaches. He also was named a first team all-league selection in `06. Frazier finished the regular season leading the BIG EAST in home runs (9), runs scored (35), total bases (73) and slugging percentage (.689) in conference games. Overall, he ended the year batting .362 (76-for-210) with 71 runs scored, 15 doubles, 19 home runs, 57 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 54 games.

Pitts is the first player from Louisville to receive one of the league's four major regular-season baseball awards. Hailing from Elizabethtown, Ky., the UofL junior was one of three Cardinal players to garner all-league first team accolades this season. Pitts finished 4-2 in conference play with a 2.22 ERA. In 65.0 innings of work, he allowed just 56 hits and nine walks, while striking out 47. In overall games, Pitts ended the regular season 8-3 with a 1.90 ERA, striking out 75 in 99.1 innings.

Marks brings home Louisville's second major award of the '07 season, receiving Rookie of the Year accolades. A native of Owensboro, Ky., the Cardinal freshman led the UofL squad in league action with five wins and a 2.15 ERA. For the season, Marks finished 6-2 with a 2.51 ERA, striking out 70 and allowing just 54 hits in 79.0 innings of work. In addition to his rookie of the year trophy, Marks also received All-BIG EAST Second Team honors.

This is the third BIG EAST Coach of the Year award for Blankmeyer, who also took home the honor in 1996 and 2005. In this his 12^th season at St. John's, he led the Red Storm (39-15, 20-7 BIG EAST) to their second BIG EAST title in the last three seasons. St. John's, which was picked to win the '07 BIG EAST title in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches, is currently ranked 23^rd nationally in the Baseball America top-25 poll. Blankmeyer guided St. John's to its last BIG EAST tournament title in '97 and owns a career mark of 396-243-3. He has led the Red Storm to three NCAA Regional appearances in his first 11 seasons in Jamaica, N.Y.

The All-BIG EAST First, Second and Third Teams were also announced. St. John's led the way with four all-league selections, followed by Rutgers and Louisville with three selections each. The Red Storm and the Scarlet Knights shared the 2007 BIG EAST regular season title based on identical 20-7 league records, but St. John's earned the No. 1 seed at the conference championship because of their head-to-head series win versus Rutgers. All choices were made by the league's head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.

Representing St. John's on the All-BIG EAST First Team were senior catcher Brendan Monaghan, senior first baseman Ryan Mahoney, junior third baseman Gil Zayas and sophomore pitcher Scott Barnes. Joining Frazier on the first team for Rutgers were senior outfielder David Williams and junior designated hitter Jonathan Gossard.  For Louisville, Pitts along with senior second baseman Logan Johnson and senior outfielder Boomer Whiting were first-team selections. Other players receiving All-BIG EAST First Team accolades included Cincinnati sophomore pitcher Dan Osterbrock, Notre Dame sophomore pitcher David Phelps and West Virginia senior outfielder Justin Jenkins.

The 2007 BIG EAST Baseball Championship will take place May 22-26 at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, N.Y.  KeySpan Park is home to the Brooklyn Cyclones - the Short-Season Class A affiliate of the New York Mets. The top eight teams in the BIG EAST based on winning percentage against league opponents qualified to compete in the double-elimination conference tournament. The winner of the tournament will earn the league's automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Baseball Championship.

Go to www.bigeastbaseball.com for all the latest news and information about the 2007 BIG EAST Baseball Championship.

2007 BIG EAST Baseball Award Winners

BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR

*Todd Frazier, Rutgers, SS, Jr., 6-4, 215, Toms River, N.J./Toms River South

BIG EAST PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Zack Pitts, Louisville, RHP, Jr., 6-3, 190, Elizabethtown, Ky./Elizabethtown

BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Justin Marks, Louisville, LHP, Fr., 6-2, 180, Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic

BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR

Ed Blankmeyer, St. John's, 12^th season, 396-243-3 Overall/St. John's

All-BIG EAST First Team

P             Dan Osterbrock, Cincinnati, So.

P             Zack Pitts, Louisville, Jr.

P             David Phelps, Notre Dame, So.

P             Scott Barnes, St. John's, So.

C             Brendan Monaghan, St. John's, Sr.

1B           Ryan Mahoney, St. John's, Sr.

2B           Logan Johnson, Louisville, Sr.

SS           *Todd Frazier, Rutgers, Jr.

3B           Gil Zayas, St. John's, Jr.

OF           Boomer Whiting, Louisville, Sr.

OF           Justin Jenkins, West Virginia, Sr.

OF           David Williams, Rutgers, Sr.

DH          Jonathan Gossard, Rutgers, Jr.

All-BIG EAST Second Team

P             Justin Marks, Louisville, Fr.

P             Stephen Healing, Rutgers, Sr.

P             Danny Otero, USF, Sr.

P             Mike Loree, Villanova, Sr.

C             Derrick Alfonso, Louisville, Jr.

1B           Neall French, Cincinnati, Sr.

                Daniel Burton, Louisville, Sr.

2B           Sam DeLuca, St. John's, Sr.

SS           Chris Cates, Louisville, Sr.

3B           Josh Harrison, Cincinnati, So.

OF           Tony Campana, Cincinnati, Jr.

OF           Isaiah Howes, Louisville, Sr.

OF           Ryan Hill, Rutgers, Jr.

DH          Chris Joachim, St. John's, Sr.

All-BIG EAST Third Team

George Brown, P, St. John's, Jr.

Dexter Butler, 2B, USF, Jr.

Walter Diaz, SS, USF, Jr.

Tom Edwards, 1B, Rutgers, So.

Mike Gaggioli, P, Georgetown, Jr.

Brian Kemp, OF, St. John's, Fr.

Kyle Landis, P, Pittsburgh, So.

Brett Lilley, SS, Notre Dame, Jr.

Trystan Magnuson, P, Louisville, Sr.

Mark McLaughlin, OF, Georgetown, Sr.

Paul Nardozzi, P, Pittsburgh, Sr.

A.J. Pollock, 3B, Notre Dame, Fr.

Derek Shunk, 3B, Villanova, Jr.                                                                                          

Adam White, OF, West Virginia, So.                                                                                  

*Unanimous Selection

Ties in the voting created an additional first baseman on the second team and an additional selection on the third team.